97. The changes brought by industrialization and urbanization have had considerable effect on the old Chinese tradition of caring for old people and the number of aged people applying for assistance in one form or another increased considerably during the past year. Both material assistance and counselling services are given to those old people, and for those who are without relatives and are without a means to support themselves, institutional care is sought. However, there has never been enough room in the existing homes for the aged to accom- modate all who need care and there is always a long waiting list in the Department. Several organizations, with assistance from Government and the Lotteries Fund, are now planning construction of old people's homes and it is hoped that the completion of these homes would help to ease the pressure of demand.
REHABILITATION
98. Recent years have seen an acceleration in the development of rehabilitation programmes for disabled in many countries, and Hong Kong is fast becoming a focal point of regional interest in rehabilitation. A 23 person strong UN study group spent 5 days in Hong Kong in February 1968 as part of a South East Asia fact-finding tour on drug- addiction. They expressed themselves as being well impressed with facilities here for treatment and rehabilitation. Rapid urbanization and industralization has in Hong Kong, as elsewhere, loosened family obligations and action was required on the part of both Government and voluntary organizations to provide more rehabilitation services to fill the gap. The Principal Officer (Rehabilitation) is the officer in the Family Services Division who is most closely concerned with the problems of disability and apart from administering institutions, clubs, training centres and sheltered workshops directly run by the Department, maintain close liaison with voluntary agencies and other government departments in the co-ordination and development of work in this field.
99. The largest institution maintained by the department is the Rehabilitation Centre at Aberdeen which makes an important con- tribution to the final phase of the continuous process of rehabilitation which begins with initial medical treatment and ends in remunerative employment.
100. The centre caters for a wide variety of disability such as the deaf, the blind, the orthopaedically handicapped and the mentally retarded. At the end of the year there were 346 residents, and vocational
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